(a) Field of the Invention:
The present invention pertains to a musical quiz apparatus for use in, for example, performing sound-dictation training in the place where musical education is provided, and more particularly it relates to a musical quiz apparatus having the functions of presenting as well as answering chord quizes.
(b) Description of the Prior Art:
As well known, sound-dictation training has been conducted widely in places of musical education. In the past, the sound-dictation training has been carried out in such pattern that the teacher presents, as a question, arbitrary sounds by utilizing, for example, a piano or an organ, and that he asks the pupils to answer the question by, for example, orally or writing the musical notes on a music score sheet, and that then the teacher gives marks (points) on the answers collected from the pupils.
However, such questioning, answering and rating pattern which has been practiced in the past has the fundamental drawbacks that, owing to the fact that the selection of the question (quiz) sounds has been entrusted with the teacher, the selection of the question sounds has tended to become partialized depending on the taste of the individual teachers, and also that, owing to the relatively difficult availability of good tutor in music who can assist a pupil at the latter's home when the pupil intends to do a sound-dictation training by himself, no satisfactory training has been accomplished.
In order to improve such drawbacks in the conventionally practiced sound dictation training method, there has been proposed, in Japanese Patent Preliminary Publication No. Sho 54-51642, an electronic musical instrument arranged to be operative so that numerical data corresponding to question or quiz sounds are generated randomly by utilizing a random number generator, and that these generated numerical data are sounded via a musical sound generating system, and that concurrently therewith numerical data corresponding to the depressed keys on the keyboard are generated, so that owing to the recognition of the presence of coincidence between these two types of numerical data, a self-practice of sound dictation training can be made.
This prior electronic musical instrument has the advantages that the tendency of presenting quiz sounds becomes very random because quiz sounds are generated randomly by utilizing a random number generator, bringing about a remarkable improvement of the result or effect of training of this type, and also that, in such environment as in general households where there is no teacher who gives a lesson, it is possible to conduct a sound dictation training of said type with a good efficiency by the pupil himself.
On the other hand, in such electronic musical instrument as described just above, the numerical datum which is outputted from the random number generator is one which corresponds only to a single kind of note pitch datum. Accordingly, the sound dictation training which is conducted by relying on this conventional electronic musical instrument is limited always to a single sound at a time, i.e. individual notes of a monophonic melody, and thus this prior training system has the fundamental drawback that it cannot be utilized for the training on chord sounds.
Apart from the above, as an apparatus which allows the pupil to conduct a sound dictation training of this type by himself, and enabling him also to perform a sound dictation training on chords, there is known, for example, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Preliminary Publication No. Sho 52-101131.
In this latter apparatus, however, arrangement is provided so that numerical data corresponding to question chords are stored in a ROM (Read-Only Memory), and that these data are read out in a certain order. Thus, the tendency of presenting chord questions is fixed and lacks variation. As a result, at the end of several repetitions of training in such pattern, the pupil will have memorized the order of the chords which will be presented, and accordingly there arises the problem that the effect of lesson cannot be enhanced sufficiently.